Bears add Kendall Wright to receiving corps

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 11, 2017, 7:39 PM EDT

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Mike Glennon has a new target.

The Bears have agreed to terms with wide receiver Kendall Wright, adding the veteran to the new-look offense that will be led by Glennon. Adam Caplan of ESPN reports that Wright will sign a one-year deal worth up to $4 million.

Wright has played his entire five-year career for the Titans. Last season was the worst of his career, with just 29 catches for 416 yards, but he has shown promise at times: In his breakout second season in 2013, he had 94 catches for 1,079 yards.

Chicago would love to see Wright have something close to that 2013 level of production. The Bears’ offense needs all the help it can get, and their free agency priority has been acquiring that help.

With him and Wheaton, Bears have doubled down on small fast WRs. Mike Glennon has a big arm and downfield speed was desperately lacking in the Bears WR corps last year, but when you look at when Glennon did best in Tampa, it was throwing to Mike Evans. With Alshon Jeffery gone, the Bears do not have that big catch radius, win the high point ball guy. Kevin White will be on the roster of course but in my mind is really not a factor this season as he looked years behind in development in his limited reps last season. Cameron Meredith showed signs but it would not surprise me at all for Pace to go after a big WR in the draft to balance out the mix a bit.

I know that Titans fans aren’t too sad to see Wright leave but if not for him and Wheaton the Bears would be looking at another year of Eddie Royal and that simply was not acceptable.

pardonmyjake says:
i think the beers will be competitiv this season in the nfc north.
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I don’t know what the price of beer is in any of the four NFC North stadiums, but I think we can all agree they will be overpriced.

So bassplucker, does this mean the Bears were just kicking the tires on Cordarelle Patterson, or do you think they’ll still pursue him for his return skills and spot duty/depth at wide receiver?
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Anything could happen of course but the fact the Wright signing came so soon after the Cordarelle meeting, plus that Patterson still had a meeting with the Raiders on the books (where many believe he’ll sign), tells me that conversation revealed quickly there wasn’t a fit and the Bears moved on to Wright.

It’s clear that Ryan Pace is choosing to spread the Bears’ considerable cap across a large number of smaller name signings as opposed to a small number of big money deals. He’s going to get whoever he can get at positions of need that meet his price point – as many as will sign – and let competition prevail in OTAs and camp. Which on a team with as many upgrades needed as the Bears, is the right approach IMO.

Thanks for the answer, bassplucker. I think you have an excellent handle on the situation.
There’s a lot of time between now and the draft — and even after — for teams to see how things shake out before committing to some of the free agents still out there.
I could, however, see the Raiders making a play for Patterson rather quickly. But, as you said, with the Wright signing being announced on the heels of Patterson’s visit, the Bears may have moved on already. Perhaps it was a poor fit, or perhaps Patterson’s camp is asking for too much.
Stay tuned, and good luck.

The Bears are headed in the right direction. If anyone is unhappy with the Glennon signing, then let’s talk about facts and stats.

1. Glennon played in 18 games, threw for over 4,000 yards, 30 TD and 15 interceptions. For 16 games, that is 3,600 yards, 26-27 TD and 13-14 Interceptions. I can’t imagine anyone not being happy if he put up those number next season with maybe a couple of TD’s on QB sneaks.

2. He played on teams with hardly a running game in 2013 and 2014. The top two running back in both season didn’t reach 1,000 COMBINED. Meaning, they each ran for less than 500 yards and the total TD’s between them was 6 TD one season and 3 or 4 in the previous season. He was having to deal with being blitzed on a consistent basis.

3. Glennon has better number through 18 games than two HOF QB Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. They both threw for a lot of interceptions early in their career. Glennon’s 2:1 ratio of TD to Interceptions is solid.

4. His contract pays him about $16 Million in the first year but only $8 Million counts against the cap because of bonuses and they can get out of the deal after next season if something unforeseen or undesirable occurs.

Now for the receivers.

1. Alshon Jeffery was the best #2 receiver in the league when playing with Brandon Marshall. He has not produced the same as a #1. Cameron Meredith was the vest receiver on the Bears last season.

2. Kevin White will get his chance and hopefully can stay healthy. He was drafted to take Marshall’s place.

3. Markus Wheaton and Kendall Wright have speed and shown some success in previous seasons. Neither of them were the #1 receivers for their teams and were given limited looks. Both are upgrades over Royal and Bellamy, although Bellamy had some decent games last season…..putting his dropped catch in the end zone aside which did help the Bears get a better draft pick.

Wheaton or Wright will probably handle KR/PR duties which is an upgrade over last season

4. Loggains did wonders with backup QB’s and unknown receivers. I am interested to see the production he can get out of Glennon, Wheaton and Wright.

5. Sims is an every down TE that will get more opportunities with the Bears for blocking and receiving. A nice pickup.

I believe the Bears will win 9 or 10 games this season and a lot of it has to do with coaching. Loggains and Fangio are solid coordinators who have created improvement which will carry over to this season, as well…….hopefully.

hershelavraham, an exhaustive analysis, but I don’t think your club will be good enough to even break .500 in the division. You should do a happy dance and thank your lucky stars if your bears reach 8-8

Pace’s plan is to build through the draft, all of these FA signings are small 1-3 year deals. I see nothing wrong with what’s happening. This a complete and total rebuild process which takes years in the NFL to complete to become competitive.